Stop being stubborn

Luke 13:24-35

“Yerushalayim! Yerushalayim! You kill the prophets! You stone those who are sent to you! How often I wanted to gather your children, just as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, but you refused! Look! God is abandoning your house to you! I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of ADONAI!'”

When we continue in our headstrong sin God removes Himself from us, just as He removed Himself from Yerushalayim at the time of Yeshua’s crucifixion. We may be able to appear to have it all together for a time just as the inhabitants of Yerushalayim did for 70 years, but we will destroy ourselves by our own hubris unless as ADONAI told Shlomo “then, if my people, who bear my name, will humble themselves, pray, seek my face and turn from their evil ways, I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin and heal their land.” It is only when we call out to ADONAI in unison can we the body of believers heal the land we allowed to go fallow. Lord keep me focused on You and not get lost is the folly of my own desires. I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.

Focus on God

Luke 12:29-34

“In other words, don’t strive after what you will eat and what you will drink—don’t be anxious. For all the pagan nations in the world set their hearts on these things. Your Father knows that you need them too. Rather, seek his Kingdom; and these things will be given to you as well. Have no fear, little flock, for your Father has resolved to give you the Kingdom! Sell what you own and do tzedakah—make for yourselves purses that don’t wear out, riches in heaven that never fail, where no burglar comes near, where no moth destroys. For where your wealth is, there your heart will be also.

In these days of chaos and confusion it is really easy to get lost in the minutia of the day, yet we as believers are to remain focused just as Yeshua taught us on the Kingdom yet to come. It is in that day when there is no pain or sorrow that we are to look forward to and not let the worries of the moment divide us from His Ruach and lose our salvation. Lord let me always find Your shalom in the craziness of selfish sin around me. Keep me from trusting in my own power but let me always follow You. I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.

Relationship

Luke 11:9-10

“Moreover, I myself say to you: keep asking, and it will be given to you; keep seeking, and you will find; keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who goes on asking receives; and he who goes on seeking finds; and to him who continues knocking, the door will be opened.”

It is not enough just to say a prayer and move on for salvation. ADONAI wants a relationship with us, to hear from us daily and to speak to us in return. Just as my marriage grows with every interaction with my wife so to my walk with God as I study His Word and pursue His will for me. But I only can do this if I ask every day what He would have me do. To fail to do this I am stagnate, dull, I become like yesterday’s mana no good for anything. Lord let me keep my focus on You. I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.

Build the Temple first

Hagai (Haggai) 1:3-9

Then this word of ADONAI came through Hagai the prophet: “So is now the time for you to be living in your own paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins? Therefore here is what ADONAI-Tzva’ot says:
‘Think about your life!
You sow much but bring in little;
you eat but aren’t satisfied;
you drink but never have enough;
you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm;
and he who works for a living earns wages
that are put in a bag full of holes.'”

“Here is what ADONAI-Tzva’ot says: ‘Think about your life! Go up into the hills, get wood, and rebuild the house. I will be pleased with that, and then I will be glorified,’ says ADONAI. ‘You looked for much, but it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why?’ asks ADONAI-Tzva’ot. ‘Because my house lies in ruins, while every one of you runs to take care of his own house.

Until we get our life straight with ADONAI we will never have the material success we chase after in this life, we will never learn to be satisfied because the part of us that is our soul is never satisfied. Only through building the temple in our hearts so God can dwell there and write His Torah into us can we truly find the peace we uselessly pursue through earthly means. Lord let me always place Your will above all things in my life. I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.

Pursue God’s Wisdom

Luke 9:43-45

All were struck with amazement at the greatness of God. While they were all marveling at everything Yeshua was doing, he said to his talmidim, “Listen very carefully to what I’m going to say. The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men.” But they didn’t understand what he meant by this. It had been concealed from them so that they would not grasp its meaning, and they were afraid to ask him about it.

There are some things that come from ADONAI that like the talmidim I just don’t understand in that moment. But as I continue my walk with God I come to understand and build my trust in Him. The pursuit of the knowledge of God is meant to be a lifelong quest for His wisdom as He fills our life mysteries to be found out. Oh God thank for driving me to dig into Your Word day after day so I can grow closer to You. Keep me on this path until I am once again in Your presence, I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.

Trust is a must

Luke 8:48

He said to her, “My daughter, your trust has saved you; go in peace.”

Yeshua says this time and time again as reported in the gospels. In this case it was to the woman who touched his tzitzit to be healed, but in every healing the person was made ready for it by trusting. Trusting is the plowing we must do in our own hearts so that we can receive the life that the Ruach HaKodesh seeks to implant there. Lord, please strengthen my own trust so that I walk everyday for You. I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.

Reject Pride

Luke 7:29-30

All the people who heard him, even the tax-collectors, by undergoing Yochanan’s immersion acknowledged that God was right; but the P’rushim and the Torah-teachers, by not letting themselves be immersed by him, nullified for themselves God’s plan.

Pride will keep the most knowledgeable person from experiencing the redeeming power of ADONAI. Here was an obvious prophet of God in Yochanan the Immerser, fulfilling the call that ADONAI had placed on his life before he was formed in the womb and because it did not fit the idea of the P’rushim and Torah-teachers had of the coming Messiah, they harden their hearts to his message and missed out on the plan of salvation that God had for Isra’el and the world. Lord keep me humble so that I can hear and understand Your Word no matter what source You choose to reveal it with. I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.

Bring God back into Leadership

Dani’el (Daniel) 11:14

Those will be times in which many will resist the king of the south; and the more violent ones among your own people will rebel in order to fulfill their vision; but they will fail.

Prophetically I have no idea what this means but understanding, as Sha’ul writes in Romans, that ADONAI allows political leadership to exist over countries as they heed or rebel against His Word.  Knowing this and then add more people in rebellion against the leadership of the land because they want to fulfill their own self-centered vison without consulting God is the recipe for complete failure.  This is a pretty good inditement of the world today and America for certain.  We must turn back to God and seek His path for our lives only then will we find peace, God’s peace, shalom, in this world.  Lord let me see and understand and have the strength to do all that You would have me do this day and everyday forward.  I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.

Search the Word

Dani’el (Daniel) 9:2-4a

in the first year of his reign, I, Dani’el, was reading the Scriptures and thinking about the number of years which ADONAI had told Yirmeyah the prophet would be the period of Yerushalayim’s desolation, seventy years. I turned to Adonai, God, to seek an answer, pleading with him in prayer, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to ADONAI my God and made this confession:

Like Dani’el we are to continually study the scriptures and dwell in prayer over what ADONAI reveals to us. As Dani’el fasted and confessed and repented over the prophecies of Yirmeyahu it opened the vision from God of the return of the house of Y’hudah to Yerushalamyim. We as the body of believers must do the same so we can keep the narrow path that the Lord leads us on. Abba let me see clearly the way You would have me go in this world. I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.

Look for the whole truth

Luke 4:5-8

The Adversary took him up, showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world, and said to him, “I will give you all this power and glory. It has been handed over to me, and I can give it to whomever I choose. So if you will worship me, it will all be yours.” Yeshua answered him, “The Tanakh says, ‘Worship ADONAI your God and serve him only.'”

HaSatan’s lie here was the lie of omission. While he does have dominion in this world, for a time, it will end, and he will be defeated and only those who serve and worship ADONAI will be rewarded for their good and faithful service. Those fooled by the adversary will follow him to his reward damnation forever. Lord let hold true to Your Word through the example of Yeshua and serve only You for my life. I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.